Award for Deakin and Community Childcare

Division of Student Life

Staff member at Deakin and Community Child Care Centre, Nikita Zaluski, was recently awarded the ‘VET in schools’ Student Award at the 2008 Community Services and Health Industry Training Awards, in July.

The Centre itself was also a strong performer on the awards night, as the only Geelong organisation to be nominated as a finalist in the open category of the ‘Achievement in Creating a Learning Culture’ award.

The awards recognise organisations that value the training and development of staff, through the creation of a supportive learning environment.

Director of Deakin and Community Child Care, Lisa Blackwell, was delighted with the result.

‘We have always placed a strong emphasis on the ongoing training and development of our staff, because it is with highly motivated and skilled staff that we can offer the best service to families within the Centre,’ she said.

‘Our recognition as a finalist is a great reward for the hard work we put in to developing a learning culture.’

Some of the initiatives in place at Deakin and Community Childcare that contributed to its success in these awards include:

• staff keep their skills and knowledge up-to-date by completing professional development activities and undertaking training
• a Staff Development Policy, that is committed to ongoing professional development, including funding for staff to complete essential training such as First Aid, Certificate III of Community Services (Children’s Services), Diploma of Community Services (Children’s Services), Advanced Diploma (Children’s Services) and Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, including traineeship policy and appraisal policy.

As part of the awards submission, staff who have undertaken training in the past few years talked about how the supportive learning environment had an impact on their work.

Ms Zaluski undertook her training through CMC Training at Work, at Deakin and Community Childcare, while completing her VCE simultaneously and is now reaping the rewards.

‘I have always loved children and working in this environment is a great opportunity to see them grow and develop,’ Ms Zaluski said.

For more information on the Awards, please visit the Community Services and Health Industry Training Board website.